Morgan Stanley $MS Shares Sold by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lessened its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,807,048 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 223,919 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned about 0.24% of Morgan Stanley worth $676,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MS. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Morgan Stanley during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the second quarter worth $28,000. Nvest Wealth Strategies Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Morgan Stanley during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Morgan Stanley by 1,855.6% in the fourth quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $196.00 to $214.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $171.00 to $183.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Morgan Stanley from $219.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $206.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric F. Grossman sold 11,118 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.75, for a total transaction of $2,120,758.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 169,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,313,622.25. The trade was a 6.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Andrew M. Saperstein sold 51,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.59, for a total value of $9,744,068.12. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 282,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $53,209,159.78. The trade was a 15.48% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 77,476 shares of company stock valued at $14,644,762 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Morgan Stanley

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target on Morgan Stanley to $187 from $179 while keeping a neutral rating, signaling improved expectations even though the new target still implies downside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Media coverage highlighted Morgan Stanley’s “wide awake” posture on M&A opportunities as the bank pursues a $10 trillion wealth-management ambition, which could support longer-term growth through acquisitions in advisors, private markets, and alternatives.
• Positive Sentiment: Additional reports emphasized Morgan Stanley’s continued strength in wealth management and its willingness to expand through inorganic growth, reinforcing the market’s view that the firm has multiple avenues for revenue growth.
• Neutral Sentiment: One article noted Morgan Stanley’s stock has climbed near its 52-week high, which may be drawing attention to valuation and limiting upside in the near term.
• Neutral Sentiment: Erste Group slightly lowered its FY2026 EPS estimate to $11.97 from $12.00, a minor change that does not appear to have altered the broader bullish tone.
• Negative Sentiment: Some market commentary continues to frame Morgan Stanley’s valuation as stretched after a strong rally, and the stock’s proximity to its 52-week high may prompt profit-taking.

Morgan Stanley Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $214.19 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.52. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.84. The company has a market cap of $337.84 billion, a PE ratio of 19.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23. Morgan Stanley has a 12-month low of $128.81 and a 12-month high of $219.16.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $3.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.02 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $20.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $19.23 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 17.70% and a net margin of 14.65%.The business’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 11.85 EPS for the current year.

Morgan Stanley Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 30th. This represents a $4.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Morgan Stanley’s payout ratio is presently 36.23%.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a global financial services firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1935 by Henry S. Morgan and Harold Stanley, the company provides a broad range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individual investors. Leadership has been guided by a senior executive team and board of directors; James P. Gorman has served as the company’s chief executive and chairman in recent years.

The firm’s primary business activities are organized around three principal businesses: Institutional Securities, Wealth Management and Investment Management.